Rangers' season ends as Kings claim Stanley Cup in 2OT

Rangers left wing Benoit Pouliot looks on after losing to the Los Angeles Kings in double overtime of Game 5.

LOS ANGELES – How many layers of heartbreak are too much for one team? Or for one man?

For a few moments in the Rangers’ dressing room, it did seem to be too much for Henrik Lundqvist. The goalie, still in his pads, just sat at his stall burying his face in his gloved hands. His eyes were red after composing himself to face the media.

“I knew going into this series it would end in tears, tears of joy or tears of heartbreak,” Lundqvist said. “Right now, it’s just extremely tough.”

The Rangers are still without the Stanley Cup since 1994 after a five-game loss to the Kings, who won for the second time in three seasons. The Kings won Game 5, 3-2, in double overtime Friday night at the Staples Center on Alec Martinez’s rebound goal at 14:43. Justin Williams earned the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoff MVP.

The Rangers lost all three games in Los Angeles in overtime, including Game 2’s 5-4 double overtime loss.

“It’s definitely worth every second of these last two months,” said Brad Richards, who likely played his final game as a Ranger and will be bought out of the final six seasons of his nine-year, $60 million deal. “But right now, you’re just kind of speechless.”

In the end, Lundqvist’s 48 saves were not enough and the Rangers just missed out on returning the series to New York. Ryan McDonagh hit the right post at 4:42 of the first overtime. Jonathan Quick (28 saves) stopped Chris Kreider’s breakaway at 19:27 of the first overtime and

Dan Girardi’s power-play slap shot in the second overtime was tipped off the left post by Mats Zuccarello.

“It’s a bummer,” Derek Stepan said. “Quality chances, quality looks that don’t find the back of the net with the way Hank is playing. It didn’t seem like we were going to lose that hockey game.

As the Kings mobbed Martinez, the Rangers’ players came to console their goalie. But Lundqvist wasn’t ready to be consoled just yet, though he gathered himself for the handshake line and a hug with Quick.

“You look at all three games in this building, we could have easily won all three,” said Lundqvist, who played the 666th game of his career – regular season and playoffs – on Friday the 13th. “I think we hit the post in every overtime. That’s how it goes. They were good.”

“When we won at home the other day, I was thinking what if we had won one game here,” added Derick Brassard of the Rangers’ 2-1 win in Wednesday night’s Game 4 at Madison Square Garden. “It’s not like we didn’t play well. It could’ve gone either way. We lost the series there [in the first two games].”

The Rangers were attempting to become just the fifth team in NHL history to rally from a 3-0 playoff series deficit. The Kings had become the fourth in the first round when they ousted the Sharks.

“We had a heck of a year,” defenseman Dan Girardi said. “But this one’s definitely going to leave a sour taste for a while.”

The Rangers, as they did in Game 2, had the lead going into the third period as Chris Kreider’s power-play deflection of McDonagh’s feed at 15:37 of the second period and Brian Boyle’s shorthanded goal at 19:30 put the Rangers ahead 2-1.

But ex-Ranger Marian Gaborik, with his NHL-best 14th playoff game, tied it on the power play at 7:56 of the third period.

The Kings, after outshooting the Rangers, 15-1, in the third period of Game 4, started the third period of Game 5 by taking the first five shots. Overall, they outshot the Rangers 12-3 in the period.

“The way they play in the third period, they make you make a lot of decisions,” Brassard said. “They pinch in the offensive zone. They pinch in the neutral zone and they have a quick transition. One thing I noticed is the crowd. The crowd was basically standing up the whole third period. They feed off that energy. They play off the forecheck. That’s why we didn’t really play well in third periods.”

Williams, who had nine goals in the postseason, made it 1-0 at 6:04 of the first period.

Lundqvist had stopped Willie Mitchell’s point shot and Dwight King’s rebound try at the crease before Williams, who scored the overtime winner in the Kings’ 3-2 Game 1 victory, slid it underneath the goalie.

“You go into this hoping that you don’t regret anything,” Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said. “We put it out there. We gave our best shot, best effort. Three games here all went to OT. What can I say?”

In addition to the good efforts, besides Lundqvist, notably McDonagh’s game-high 42:12 off ice time. But Richards’ assist on Kreider’s goal snapped a six-game scoreless drought as he again played on the fourth line. Rick Nash was held scoreless in the series.

“I’m very proud of our group, very proud of their effort,” Vigneault said. “We’ll see what happens.”